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Untitled Article
United States ' General Annual Christian Conference / which convenes in the month of September , and usually continues in session about a week . The subordinate Conferences are , at present , thirteen in number . The Christian denomination * being the last that
has arisen in America , has experienced great opposition from old and popular sectaries ; but their preachers , being fired with a holy zeal , and accustomed to ' endure hardships as goodsoldiers / have pressed through violence , borne reproach , and , by the grace of God , have reaped an abundant harvest . They
have many of the peculiarities of a denomination yet in its infancy- Useless forms and ceremonies they profess to reject , and are in the custom of adopting scriptural expressions , and rejecting what they regard as the 'doctrines and commandmentsr of men '
They disdain the application of the terra Rev . to the clergy , on the ground that it belongs to Deity alone . They are in sentiment Anti-Calvinistic and Anti-Trinitarian . They receive the Scriptures as their only rule of faith and practice ; consequently reject all other creeds and articles of faith .
" As my paper will soon arrest my progress , I must proceed to make some general remarks , and close . The American Baptists consider f regeneration * an indispensable qualification for baptism , and those who admit open communion require all their
communicants to have experienced vital holiness . They all believe that the misery of the finally impenitent will be of equal duration with the felicity of the righteous , except nfew of the
Christians , who believe in the complete annihilation of the wicked . The Baptists have a few colleges and other seminaries of learning under their patronage . The National College at the seat of Government is under their
jurisdiction . * Some of the preachers of all the Baptist denominations are regularly educated , and others become preachers by the exercise of their respective gifts ; but in all cases , those who are admitted to administer the ordinances of the Lord ' s House , are
* This , it is presumed , must be un derstood to apjriy exclusively to the Par titular Baptists . G . S .
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required to first enter it themselves by the Door—Christ Jesus . Most of the ministers are supported by salaries raised by voluntary subscription , and not by constraint . The salaries of
the preachers are in general so trifling , that they are not calculated to enrich them , though they afford ample means of subsistence . Some being able ' to support themselves , do not accept salaries .
" I have now given you some general ideas of your brethren in America , and though they fall short of a reply in full to all your questions , may lay a foundation for you to obtain the
sought-for information . I have striven to be correct in my succinct view , but this must rest on the documents in my possession , from which I derive my information . I am pastor of a church connected with the Christian
denomination , and Mr . Benedict referred your letter to me to answer , as you were mistaken in bis being a General Baptist : he , however , professes a friendship for you and your people . It would be very pleasing to me and to all our people to hold a regular
correspondence with our transatlantic . brethren . We might soon , if desirable to you , send messengers to your Assembly , and receive yours in our General Conference , by which we might be brought more intimately acquainted . As I am young and unmarried , I could realize no greater
pleasure than that of visiting my brethren on that , side the Atlantic , beholding their order and uniting with them in preaching * Jesus and the Resurrection , but a deficiency in property must prevent such a voyage , and chain my feet to the American shores .
" In about two weeks I expect to commence the publication of a large religious newspaper , to be devoted to theological discussion , &c . ; of which I am sole editor and proprietor , and am desirous of possessing- some of your English publications , from which to derive some matter for it . If you ,
or a society for that purpose , will procure a quantity of late Magazines , &c . &c , and send me by the first vessel that sails to our ports , I will immediately on their receipt , collect a quantity of , our publieations and send you .- Perhaps * you alight * make an arrangement with-the publishers of
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340 , Lei fer from Cumberland , Rhode Island .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1823, page 350, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1785/page/38/
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